I visited Naesosa, which is located in Byeonsanbando National Park. This is in southwest Korea, near the ocean. To get there, I took a bus from Jeonju to Buan Bus Terminal. Then, I took a taxi from Buan Bus Terminal to Naesosa Temple. The tax fare was about 25,000 won. Here is the entrance of the park, where I stopped at the visitor center and got a map and a few postcards.

Naesosa Temple was originally built in 633 by a monk, and was originally called Soraesa Temple. The temple was rebuilt in 1633. It’s stated that it’s unknown why it was renamed from Soraesa Temple to Naesosa Temple, but it seemed to gain the name Naesosa Temple after the Japanese invasion of Korea.

Naesosa Temple is about a fifteen minute walk from the visitor center. There is a small admission fee for going to the temple. As you walk from the visitor center up to the temple, you walk through a small fir tree forest. The smell of the trees was really nice - it really felt like I was out in nature.

The woodwork on the temple was a bit distinctive from that of many other temples that I’ve seen in Korea. The temple is made of all wood.

After visiting Naesosa, I took a hiking path up the mountain. You could look down and see Naesosa Temple from above.

The hiking path on the way up was pretty much your typical Korean hiking path - some rocky areas, some stairs, and a couple more difficult sections which had handrails for support.

I went on to see Jiksopokpo (직소폭포), which was a large waterfall. It was about a 3.5 km hike from Naesosa Temple to the waterfall. The path to the waterfall required a hike back down the mountain and then there was a flat trail and a path next to a stream. It was refreshing to walk next to the stream and hear the water flowing.

To get back home, I backtracked the same way that I came. I was able to take a “countryside” bus (농어촌 버스), which waits a little outside the park entrance back to Buan Bus Terminal, and then another bus back to Jeonju.

The weather was a bit cloudy. It would probably be nice to come back during the spring or fall, when the trees are in bloom.